Amateur wrestlers are subjected to maneuvers and contact with opponents and the wrestling mat which can result in injuries to the outer ear surfaces and to the forehead. Such injuries can be the result of unintentional blows to the ear by opponents, abrasion by sliding contact with the mat, i.e., mat burn, and unintentional head contact between opponents, i.e., head butts. As a means of protecting against such injuries, ear guard devices are in wide-spread use and generally provide a reinforced cup shaped protector covering the ears.
One currently popular ear guard is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 2,898,596, Keen, and includes an inner metal reinforcing plate surrounded by an energy absorbing cover which is formed by cutting sheet foam material to form a piece covering the outside of the plate and a ring shaped piece for the inside. These foam pieces are bonded together at their outer periphery and coated with plastic or rubber material by dipping to form a smooth coating over the outside. The coated foam cover forms a jacket which is placed over the metal plate. Cut out areas are provided in the jacket to allow head straps to be attached to the ear guards. A disadvantage to this construction is that it provides essentially only one level of protection through the compression of the single thickness of foam after which shock forces are transmitted directly to the user's head through the inflexible metal cup. In addition, this device affords little protection to the opposing athlete since his direct contact is with the substantially less resilient plastic or rubber outer covering which can result in abrasions or other injuries.
A simplified version of this ear guard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,345, Marchello, wherein the molded outer skin is sufficiently resilient to enable it to deform to envelope a metal reinforcement plate. The improvement is directed to providing the cover with reinforced marginal areas around the head strap cut outs to provide strength and resistance to tearing of the cover when it is pulled on during adjustment of the head straps. In addition, the inner peripheral edge of the cover is ribbed where it engages the outer edge of the reinforcement plate to reduce the likelihood of cutting through the cover. There is no increase in protection and shock absorbancy in the ear guards of Marchello.
Similar types of ear guards which include an inner reinforcing plate with outer foam padding and head straps are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 537,686, Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,277,994, Roberts, U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,818, Roberts, U.S. Pat. No. 3,311,921, Helm, U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,316, Pukish, Jr., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,482, Holden. In each of these patents, the level of shock absorbancy is substantially limited to a single thickness of foam and little or no consideration is given to protection against injury to the wearer's opponent in the event of the opponent's contact with the device.